A woman who went blind as a result of her breast cancer treatment and thought she was infertile has told how her life transformed after giving birth to her two daughter.

Holly Bonner, 36, first found a lump in her breast just before her 19th birthday and was soon after diagnosed with breast cancer.

After undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, Holly, who lives in Staten Island, New York, with her husband Joseph, 50, thought she was better.

Happy family: Holly Bonner, 36, thought she was unable to have children after being diagnosed with breast cancer twice

Surprise: Holly, from Staten Island, New York, pictured after giving birth, was shocked when she became pregnant

Defied odds: Doctors told Holly, pictured with her cane, it was unlikely she would be able to have children after undergoing cancer treatment

But when she was 26, Holly, who is now a blogger and works for a non-profit organization, was diagnosed with Paget's disease before breast cancer returned again two years later and later resulted in her losing her eyesight.

She asked to have a mastectomy several times during her twenties but was advised not to. In total she has undergone 17 different breast procedures including biopsies and having lumps surgically removed.

She told Daily Mail Online: 'It was just before my 19th birthday. I met my husband when I had just turned 18.

'I was a freshman in college. I was living in Staten Island with [Joseph], our relationship had really just started.

'I found the lump right after new year's in 1999...Nobody really wanted to do anything because I was 19 years old and nobody had it at that age.'

She said because of her young age, she struggled to find doctors who would take her concerns seriously.

'I was in a new city, it was really hard to make them see that I was concerned that something was really wrong...

'It was just like a constant battle. By the time everything was said and done and they had taken the lump out and treatment had started it was four to five months.'

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Despair: Holly, pictured with her two daughters in the garden, thought she wanted to end her life after being registered blind

The second time she had breast cancer, she was warned that the cocktail of drugs she was given contained a drug that could affect her vision but there was only a two per cent chance.

She was also told that having undergone cancer and several rounds of treatment, that her eggs would probably not be 'viable' to get pregnant.

Her eyesight started going until one day in 2012 she took a nap and woke up 'in complete darkness'.

She said the experience was 'terrifying' and the most frightening day of her entire life.

After being declared legally blind, she began to feel suicidal until a shock pregnancy changed everything.

She said: 'I had a job at a school, I went to work one day, I had a headache, came home and my husband said "why don't you lie down and take a nap" and when I woke up I couldn't see anything, I was in complete darkness...The next day I was declared legally blind.'

She added: 'It was pretty terrifying. It was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened in my life and I've had my fair share.'

'When you've gone to sighted world and you're pushed into the blind world it's a hell of a transition, it was very very hard.'

Happy: Holly, pictured with her two daughters, loves being a mother

Online community: Holly, pictured with her daughters in the garden, says she enjoys blogging about her experiences as a blind mother

Holly could not work, she was told she would have to wait months for services and her husband had to go to work.

She said: 'Was I meant to sit in the dark at home?I rode the wave of being very upset and frustrated, being very very angry, I was very upset at God. I've already had cancer, haven't I had enough?

'Probably the saddest day I had was the day my mobility instructor came to the house and gave me my cane. That was very sobering in a lot of ways.

'I had to learn to do everything again. Here I was this Ivy league graduate and overall nice person and I had to learn to cross the street, learn to tie my shoes and cook.'

Hollly said they had 'wanted children for years' but after having a number of miscarriages and being warned by doctors it was unlikely she could get pregnant, she had given up hope.

In May 2012 she seriously considered suicide.

She said: 'I came really close. I was thinking about how I was going to do it.

'I said to God "you have made me blind, given me cancer' and I asked him to answer me.

'The next couple of weeks I got really sick, violently sick, and I went to the doctor and found out I was pregnant. He [God] answered me.'

Fears: Holly, pictured with one of her daughters, says she worries about other parents' reactions when her children start school

The following month she was 'really shocked' when she was informed she was three weeks pregnant.

Although the pregnancy was 'stressful', the experience of becoming an expectant mother transformed her perspective on life.

She said: 'I was really shocked, I was three weeks pregnant. It was a really stressful pregnancy...I switched my attitude 100 per cent and my life became raising a baby, that's what got me up in the morning.'

Because of her limited vision, she had to have a cesarean section to avoid causing further damage to her sight.

'Five hours after she was born I was able to see her for the first time,' she said. 'I could see her little head, her fingers, where her nose was, I could see her in the way that I could see, not in the way you would look at a baby...I couldn't believe she was mine, I couldn't believe it.'

Soon after the birth of Nuala, now three, in 2013 she was shocked again by another surprise pregnancy.

The second time around, she said her pregnancy with Aoife, who was born the following year and is now one year old, was 'totally different'.

She said: 'I had to focus more of my attention less on my disability and more on a toddler running around the house.'

Shock: Holly, pictured in hospital after giving birth, could not believe it both times she found out she was expecting

As a mother Holly says she has found happiness and enjoys her job working for Illuminart Productions as director of education and outreach and finds blogging a helpful link to the outside world.

She said: 'Life is great. Being the mom to a one-year-old and a three-year-old is fine.

'I truly think everything I've gone through in my life is for this. I love being with them, I'm able to work at home, I have my blog because I'm able to be supportive to other blind and disabled parents.'

'I'm a mom, I have a disability, yeah I'm blind and we have some rally crazy things go on in my house and I love to talk about them.'

She worries about issues such as whether she will come up against problems with other parents once her children start school, but she said she will 'cross that bridge when I get there'.

She said: 'This is going to be the normal for my kids and I think they're up for it...

'I worry when they go to school, whether other parents will allow their kids to come round when they know I can't see, I wonder, but I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there.'

Paying tribute to Joseph, her husband of 14 years, she said she is 'lucky to have him'.

She said she was worried about what his reaction would be like when her nipples were operated on and said as a result her feelings towards her breasts changed.

She said: 'I had cells removed and they did some surgery on my nipple. That's when my feelings about my breasts changed.

'I have size G breasts. I worried about how it was going to affect my relationship. Thankfully he didn't care.

'He didn't care when I lost all my hair and didn't care when I lost my eyesight. He is a very good man, I'm lucky to have him.'